Spin-resolved Fe and Co 3s photoemission

Abstract The 3s spectra of ferromagnetic Fe and Co were studied by high-resolution spin-resolved photoemission excited by synchrotron radiation. For Fe 3s, data at 500 K show a significant broadening of the structure in the polarization spectrum. While some of the features in the spectra can be explained within the framework of an atomic model, some aspects are beyond such a description. This applies to the line shapes and the different binding energies of the leading peaks in the spin-resolved spectrum. The spectra are analysed in terms of statistical moments which provide information on the 3s–3d exchange interaction and the spin moment. The moment of the spin-resolved spectrum is significantly smaller than expected from the values of these quantities, and the result for Co is 1 3 of that for Fe. This is in conflict with a suggested scaling of this quantity with the expectation value of the z -component of the magnetic moment. The possible influence of majority-polarized satellites with large separation from the main line which have been suggested to be causing the finite spin polarization in the main part of the spectrum is discussed.